High-fructose corn syrup a “simple sweetener”?

The Corn Refiners Association occasionally takes me to task for implying that products are better if they don’t contain high-fructose corn syrup. In comments on this post today, the association’s president weighed in on dietician Diane Javelli’s advice to give kids snacks “that contain minimal processed ingredients like high fructose corn syrup or hydrogenated oils.” Association president Audrae Erickson wrote this boilerplate reply:

“High fructose corn syrup may have a complicated-sounding name, but it’s actually a simple sweetener, made from corn, that is nutritionally the same as sugar.

High fructose corn syrup is not sweeter than sugar; and high fructose corn syrup, sugar and honey all contain the same number of calories (four calories per gram).

Like table sugar and honey, high fructose corn syrup contains no artificial or synthetic ingredients or color additives.

The American Medical Association in June 2008 helped put to rest misunderstandings about this sweetener and obesity, stating that “high fructose corn syrup does not appear to contribute to obesity more than other caloric sweeteners.”

Consumers can see the latest research and learn more about high fructose corn syrup at www.HFCSfacts.com and www.SweetSurprise.com.”

I’ll let Javelli speak for herself if she wants to respond, but for my part, I’d note that Javelli didn’t suggest that HFCS is sweeter or contributes more to obesity or contains more artificial ingredients than other sweeteners. She said to avoid it because it is a processed ingredient.
That, to me, is the Michael Pollan approach, which I described this way last year:

“Any talk about (HFCS) sets off a firestorm of debate, as we discovered here recently when PCC Natural Markets banned all products containing it.

“Pollan says not to eat HFCS, but neatly breaks the standard impasse about whether HFCS is any more of a nutritional criminal than other sweeteners. Instead, here’s Pollan’s logic: HFCS is not necessarily harmful in and of itself, but it is one of the “reliable markers for foods that have been highly processed to the point where they may no longer be what they purport to be. They have crossed over from foods to food products.”